2008 Two Pounds

Three different £2 coins were issued in 2008. Two commemorative coins, both Olympic themed: One to mark the centenary of the 1908 London Olympics and another to mark the handover ceremony at the end of the Beijing Olympics in 2008 to the next host, London, for the 2012 games. And the standard coin with the ages of man reverse was also issued.

The obverse has the portrait of the Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley. The reverse is by Thomas T Docherty and shows a running track featuring the dates ‘1908’ and ‘2008’ and the denomination ‘TWO POUNDS’. The 4th Olympic Games in London in 1908 were a very different event compared to the huge spectacle of modern events.

The obverse has the portrait of the Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley, but with the legend (the writing around the edge) incorporating the denomination in words ‘TWO POUNDS’ as this wasn’t included on the reverse.

The reverse shows a flag being handed over from a ‘Beijing’ hand to a ‘London’ hand! Under the hands is the London 2012 logo. The handover ceremony itself was labelled as ‘tacky’ by many. Make your own minds up, here is the full ceremony video on YouTube:

The obverse portrait of the Queen by Ian Rank-Broadley has been used on all UK coinage from 1998 to 2015 and is the fourth portrait of the Queen used on coinage. At the time of writing, this portrait is due to be replaced by a new one, to be unveiled in 2015.

The reverse design shows the ages of man. Represented are the Iron Age, the Industrial Revolution, the Electronic Age and the Internet Age. The edge quote ‘STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS’ is from a letter by Sir Isaac Newton from 1676 in which he wrote: ‘If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants’, which may have been a modest nod to other scientists, but some say that it may have been poking fun at the stature of the recipient of the letter, Robert Hooke. The expression ‘Standing on the shoulders of giants’ pre-dates Newton by many centuries:

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